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Flash Movie Review: Sonic the Hedgehog 3
I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING BETWEEN his father and him, but I did not want to pry. We had known each other for some years and all that time I never met his folks. They lived out of state, and he would always be the one to travel to them for the holidays. We met at a coffee shop for a light lunch since we had not seen each other in a while. As soon as he walked in, I could tell something was wrong. He sat done; the first thing out of his mouth was telling me how ticked off he was at his father. I asked him why, and what happened. What he told me would upset me as well. It turns out, his father was always doing something to try and make a quick buck. One year he took funds out of the savings account and put a deposit down on a heat press transfer machine. I had to ask him what kind of machine was it. He said it was used to print things on T-shirts; his dad thought he could start an online presence to sell T-shirts he designed and made, using the machine. When I asked what kind of designs, my friend said his dad thought he was funny and could write jokes on the shirts and do others with different landscapes and artwork from a program that was included in his purchase. The online business never made money and eventually the father sold the machine used back to the company where he purchased it. THE THING MY FRIEND WAS UPSET about this time was his father had depleted most of his parents’ retirement funds to invest it in a company that was about to go public. His father thought it was a “sure thing” that would yield a huge gain. Like every investment he had made, as I soon found out, it failed. The company never went public, and the owners were nowhere to be found. All the investors lost their money and now his parents had no retirement funds to live on. I finally understood why my friend had issues with his dad. I asked what his mom thought of all these losses, and he said she was frustrated, toying with the idea of divorcing him; but she did not know how she would survive on her own. It was a sad situation; I felt bad for the mother. My friend said he was talking to his siblings to see what they could do to help the situation. He added, he grew up thinking his dad was the smartest person in the world, but then found out in his adult life it was not true. I offered dads are human just like everyone else; they can easily make mistakes and do crazy things. The perfect example of this can be found right here in this action, adventure fantasy. WHEN A NEW THREAT APPEARS ON Earth, it would force Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz (Renfield, Parks and Recreation-TV), and his friends to team up with the most unlikely being to try and save the planet. With Jim Carrey (Dark Crimes, Dumb and Dumber franchise) as Ivo Robotnik, Keanu Reeves (John Wick franchise, The Matrix franchise) voicing Shadow, Idris Elba (Beast, Three Thousand Years of Longing) voicing Knuckles, and Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Murder and Cocktails, Tails Tube-TV) voicing Tails; this latest in the franchise was more of the same. The action spreads out through the entire picture, with the same humor and predicaments. I was bored at times. The cast, both live and voices, were fine; though, I thought Jim Carrey was trying too hard to make his character a bit different this time. He appeared to mug and adlib for many of his scenes. I felt the script needed a rewrite with a better plot. I do not know if the investors in this film will break even. There were two extra scenes during the closing credits.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Creep
MY DECIDING TIME USUALLY TOOK PLACE by the third date, but there never was nor would I have ever professed my love for them by that time. Even if the three dates had been the best time of my life, I would never be at a point where I would say such a thing to someone I had only recently met. So, you can imagine my surprise when my friend told me the guy, she had met, expressed his love for her by their 3rddate. Before I uttered my shock, I did ask her how she felt when he said that to her; just in case she did not find it odd like I did. Gratefully she thought it was weird and it made her uncomfortable. I told her to end things immediately; I had seen enough movies and news stories to know things could easily spiral into dangerous territory. When I expressed my concerns, she agreed and said she was not going to talk or go out with him anymore. If he should call, she would tell him she does not feel their relationship can go any further. I told her to be prepared to block him on her phone and social media platforms, because you just never know how these things will go. THE CLOSEST I EVER GOT TO feeling uncomfortable in a new dating situation was when, after 2 dates, the person asked me how our relationship would work. When I looked at them with a confused expression and asked to explain what they meant, they wanted to know where we would have “quality” time within my work schedule, because they were already feeling like I did not have a lot of time to spend with them. I know, this was after having only 2 dates; can you believe it?!?! Right then and there I told them I did not see us having any quality time together, with a wish of good luck in their search for someone who would be a better fit. Compared to some of the horror stories I have heard, I know I was lucky that this example was one of my weirdest experiences. A friend of mine met someone online and fell into an emotional relationship with them for several months without ever meeting each other in person. I do not remember the details because it was such a foreign concept to me; however, I do recall how my friend found out the individual was married with children. I am sure most of us have or know someone who has experienced this same scenario; however, the one in this horror thriller was new to me. THE OFFER OF $1000.00 FOR ONE day’s work was to good to pass up for Aaron, played by Patrick Brice (Leave Me Like You Found Me, The Overnight), who could really use the money. All he needed to do was follow the subject and film them, no matter what they were doing. This film festival winner also starred Mark Duplass (Your Sister’s Sister, The One I Love) as Josef. Mark shared the writing credits with Patrick who also was the director of this suspenseful movie. What I liked about this story was the way the suspense got built up. It felt to me like pieces of the story were being put together in a puzzle. The two actors were so natural in their roles that at times, I wondered if they were adlibbing their dialog. As for the script itself, I found it somewhat predictable or maybe it would be better if I say, it made the characters do some stupid things at times, that I found hard to believe. I did catch my breath however at the twists in the story. This was a simple barebones production that provided a decent punch for the viewer. It also was not an endorsement for answering any ads.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
THE landscape tilted down as I peered out the airplane’s window. I was looking forward to a peaceful ride. The day was clear except for small clumps of clouds that looked like wadded up paper towels discarded across the sky. We were close to reaching our flying altitude when I heard a faint noise. It sounded like a sad pet uttered a whimper. There was a slight pause before a piercing wail filled the cabin. It was a baby I had not seen when we boarded. I thought after a minute the parent(s) would have done something like give the baby a bottle, a toy, a set of keys, something to distract the child. Maybe they did, I could not see though since they were sitting closer to the front. As I sat in my seat I stared up at the FASTEN SEATBELT sign, hoping it would turn off. With no sign of stopping if the parent(s) were not going to take the baby to the restroom, I would go to it to get away from the crying. Needless to say the flight was not pleasant. LIVING a full life means there will be celebrations as well as challenges. Let me include into that equation annoyances. I cannot imagine someone getting through life without ever becoming annoyed by something. Of course the question is what does one do when they become annoyed? Being stuck at a railroad crossing due to a long, slow moving freight train is annoying to me; however if there is no alternative route as an option, there is no point in me staying annoyed. It is out of my control, so I just turn the radio up louder and wait it out. It is funny, I found myself in a similar predicament while watching this family comedy film. Sure I could have walked out, but who then would have warned you? THE special occasion of Meemaw’s 90th birthday was the catalyst for the Heffley family hitting the road to be part of the celebrations. Unfortunately for Greg, played by Jason Drucker (Barely Lethal, Every Witch Way-TV), that meant he would not be able to go to the video gaming convention. Starring Alicia Silverstone (Clueless, Batman & Robin) as Susan Heffley, Tom Everett Scott (La La Land, Dead Man on Campus) as Frank Heffley and relative newcomer Charlie Wright as Rodrick Heffley; this latest installment of the franchise had new cast members. It did not make a difference to me but I understood some fans of the series were upset. After seeing this picture the change of actors was the least of this movie’s problems. Both the script and directing were poorly done; if you saw the trailer then you saw the best parts. I was uncomfortable with the story; I found it whiney and disrespectful. There was nothing funny taking place or let me say I did not find the pranks and embarrassing situations amusing. It seemed as if there was little thought put into the script. Besides not being funny, there was not one element of surprise; the set up and payoff could be seen a mile away, which is where I wished I had been from this film. Here is something interesting: I have never sat in a movie theater and seen so much foot traffic from the audience. Kids and parents were constantly walking in and out during the entire showing of this movie. If I wasn’t annoyed already, there was a parent sitting down in front who played with her cell phone for ½ the time.
1 ½ stars
moviejoltz 